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International Investment Law - LAWS4079
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Faculty: Faculty of Law
 
 
School:  Faculty of Law
 
 
Course Outline: See below
 
 
Campus: Kensington Campus
 
 
Career: Postgraduate
 
 
Units of Credit: 8
 
 
EFTSL: 0.16667 (more info)
 
 
Indicative Contact Hours per Week: 28
 
 
Enrolment Requirements:
 
 
Prerequisite: Academic Program must be either 9200, 9210, 5740 or 9230
 
 
Fee Band: 3 (more info)
 
 
Further Information: See Class Timetable
 
 

Description

This course aims to provide an overview on central topics of international investment law. It will trace the traditional approach of regulating foreign direct investments in customary international law and then focus on the present state of investor protection through a dense web of more than 2000 bilateral investment protection treaties as well as some multilateral agreements containing investment provisions such as NAFTA, the Energy Charter Treaty and others.

The standards of treatment guaranteed to foreign investors in these treaties as well as under customary international law will be analysed. Equally, the protection against expropriation will merit special attention. The growing case-law of international arbitration tribunals will serve as a background to this analysis.

This course will not only address the issue of substantive standards. It will equally deal with the question of enforcing such standards through various forms of dispute settlement, ranging from domestic litigation, national as well as international insurance schemes to international investment arbitration before ICSID, NAFTA, UNCITRAL or other dispute settlement institutions.


LLM Specialisations

Corporate and Commercial Law; Internatioanl Law; International Business and Economic Law

Recommended Prior Knowledge

None

Course Objectives

The specific aims of the course are:
  • To assist students to develop an understanding of the issues involved in the regulation of trans-border investment
  • To give them an advanced knowledge of international investment law and its relationship to national legal systems
  • To develop an awareness of different methods of international investment law as compared to national law in such matters as textual interpretation and working with judicial decisions
  • To assist students to recognise international investment law problems in their subsequent careers and to point them in the direction of ways of resolving them

Main Topics

  • The sources of international investment law
  • Investment agreements
  • Expropriation
  • Standards of treatment
  • Responsibility of the host state and protection by the investor's home state
  • Dispute settlement
  • ICSID (The Convention on the Settlement of Investment Disputes)

Assessment

1.  (i) Final exam, OR 3 hours 80% or
     (ii) Research paper 6,000 words 80%
2. Class participation Preparation and engagement in class 20%
 

Course Texts

Prescribed
R. Dolzer/Ch. Schreuer, Principles of International Law (OUP 2008).

Recommended
  • P. Muchlinski, Multinational Enterprises and the Law (Oxford University Press, 2nd ed., 2007).
  • P. Muchlinski/ F. Ortino/ Ch. Schreuer (eds), The Oxford Handbook of International Investment Law (OUP 2008).
  • A. Reinisch (ed), Standards of Investment Protection (OUP 2008).
  • N. Rubins, N.S. Kinsella, International Investment, Political Risk and Dispute Resolution (Oceana Dobbs Ferry, New York 2005).
  • Ch. Schreuer, The ICSID Convention: A Commentary (Cambridge University Press Cambridge 2001).
  • M. Sornarajah, International Law on Foreign Investment (Cambridge University Press Cambridge 2004).

Resources

Refer to Course Outline provided by lecturer at the beginning of session.

URL for this page:

© The University of New South Wales (CRICOS Provider No.: 00098G), 2004-2011. The information contained in this Handbook is indicative only. While every effort is made to keep this information up-to-date, the University reserves the right to discontinue or vary arrangements, programs and courses at any time without notice and at its discretion. While the University will try to avoid or minimise any inconvenience, changes may also be made to programs, courses and staff after enrolment. The University may also set limits on the number of students in a course.